


Keep Dreaming

by Namesake



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I hurt these kids way too much, Nightmares, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 07:57:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19058485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Namesake/pseuds/Namesake
Summary: For superheroes, nightmares pretty much come with the job description. For Brainy and Nia, at least they know that if one of them wakes in the middle of the night, the other will be there for them. Always.





	1. NIA

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea since the finale and so I figured I'd write it out. Two chapters; one for Brainy's nightmare, one for Nia's, both equally as adorable. I noticed a lot of people really wanted some more Brainia fluff. I hope, despite my angsty ways, this will suffice! 
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated. :)

Brainy knew something was wrong the moment he opened his eyes.

Though it was still dark out, the bedroom was bathed in a vaguely threatening bluish tinge. It was a colour Brainy had come to know remarkably well, and though he had seen incredible things come from that light, he had never feared it before.

However, at this precise moment, he couldn’t say that it instilled him with any form of _joy_.

Nia was lying on her back, her arms folded across herself protectively. She was struggling, her face lined with tension, eyes scrunched tight, locked within the recesses of her dream.

Brainy expelled any sense of exhaustion from his mind, running his hands an awkward few inches above Nia’s body. Waking her in this state would do no good, he had learned to be mindful of that. Even still, it was hard to watch her in clear distress like this. But he would not look away, he wouldn’t leave her for a second.

Blue light flickered across her body, jolting down her arms, tracking electrified lines across her skin. They twirled across her fingers, burning so bright that Brainy struggled to keep sight of them.

Nia wasn’t wearing her gloves; her hands were bare, and her pyjamas were in no way fit to channel her dream energy. That energy was building now, collecting through each digit, ready to be expelled.

Brainy had seconds to run the correct calculations in his mind. He came to a fitting conclusion, made instantaneous with his decision. He slipped his hand beneath Nia’s back, lifting her carefully upwards. At the same time, he used his other hand to untangle her arms from her body, lifting them towards the mirror on her bedroom wall.

Then it happened. The dream energy collected in Nia’s hands shot from her in an instant; it swarmed like a blue rocket, hitting the mirror at full velocity. The mirror cracked, a sound like a shot going off rang through the dark as the light rebounded, darting across the room. Brainy’s eyes tracked the light as it collided with the bedroom door, blowing it open with the force of its impact.

Nia drank in a hurried breath, her chest heaving with the strain of it. Her eyes were open, dark brown illuminated with the blue residue still leaking from the tips of her fingers.

“Oh my god,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to- I…”

“It’s okay,” Brainy said automatically. Then he added, “You’re okay.”

Nia’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. She shook her head.

Brainy’s brow furrowed. “No? No… you’re not okay.” He took her arms, squeezing reassuringly. “Would you like to talk about it?”

When the first of the tears spilled down her face, Brainy had his answer. His heart squeezed inside his chest, and with it came the exact notion of what he needed to do. He inched closer towards her, winding his arms around her back.

Nia fell against his chest. It was awkward and clumsy, and her fingers bit desperately into his skin, but Brainy could feel a little of the tension ease within her body as he hugged her, burying his face into the comfort of her long hair. He could feel moisture leak into his shirt where Nia’s face was tucked. Her chest heaved again, and the first sob ruptured from her throat.

Brainy held her tightly. “It will pass,” he told her quietly.

Nia made a muffled sound, pushing away from him suddenly. Loose hair caught her face where her tears had spread. “No, you don’t understand. What I _saw-_ it was… it was the end of everything.”

Brainy frowned at her. Her eyes were wide, the last of her dream had yet to relinquish its grip. “How so?” he asked.

Nia shook her head. “Please don’t make me relive it.” A shudder ran up her spine. “ _Please._ ”

All Brainy wanted was to pull her back into his arms, but he knew the kind of fear in her eyes, the kind of scars dreams like that left on the psyche. He squeezed her shoulder instead, gazing at her curiously. “Nia, I would never make you do anything you did not want to. But… if you would like my assistance, the only way for me to do so would be if you told me what you saw. So that I could understand.” He quirked a brow. “That decision is yours to make.”

Nia’s gaze softened. She closed her eyes. “I don’t know where I’d even begin.” She opened them again suddenly. “I should warn Kara, or, or Alex, the DEO should know if there’s a threat coming…”

“Nia,” Brainy said softly. He lifted his hand, brushing away the tears on her face. Nia sighed, tipping her head forward. “Statistically speaking, your dreams are not always warnings of future events. Even if they were, what you saw may hold a very different meaning to what you feel now.”

Nia nodded. “I know. I get that. I just… it felt so…”

“Real?”

Nia let out a shaky sigh. She took Brainy’s hand from her face, squeezing his fingers. Brainy squeezed back, scanning her quizzically.

Finally, Nia’s lips twisted. “In the dream, I saw the sky and it was… it was falling, collapsing in on itself. The world was literally about to end and there were people screaming and… and… Kara and Alex and everyone were gone and-” her voice broke, “ _you_ were gone.”

Brainy’s chest tightened. He shook his head. “I am still here.” He squeezed her fingers to accentuate his point. “We are _all_ still here.”

“But for how long?” Nia asked desperately. Her eyes were wide, glassy, and Brainy knew that she was a hair’s breadth from a full-scale breakdown. “Brainy, if this happens... how do we stop it? How could we _possibly_ stop something like that?”

“You said the sky was falling, correct?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Well,” Brainy said, and he shifted so that he could sit cross-legged in front of her. Nia watched him carefully. “There could be many attributions to a dream with that context. Is there not a popular human folk tale where a small bird claims that the sky is also falling?”

Nia stared at him for a beat. Then, she blinked. “Chicken Little,” she said. “You’re thinking of Chicken Little.”

Brainy snapped his fingers. “Indeed!” He offered her a warm smile. “I believe I recall that one of the morals for that story is to not believe everything you are told, especially with no source to corroborate those claims.”

“My dreams are prophetic, Brainy, I don’t need another source to-”

“Ah, but you do.” Brainy looked at her sternly. “Even with all that you have learned, your dreams still only barely carry a thirty per cent accuracy, and that is on a good day.”

Nia glared at him. “Gee, thanks.”

“My point being,” Brainy continued hurriedly, “dreaming of the apocalypse is actually remarkably common, especially after having faced recent trauma. After defeating a threat like Lex Luthor, it can sometimes feel like there is a pin still hanging in the air, waiting to drop.” Brainy tilted his head. “In your case, that might be exactly what the sky falling represented.”

Nia’s lips curled. “You seem pretty sure of that.”

“I may have read a few of the books you had on the subject of dream theory,” Brainy said, waving offhandedly. He drew his hand away from hers, linking his fingers together. “I could not say that I am an expert on the subject, but neither are you. Even if you were confident the dream was trying to tell you something, could you be sure that it simply was not warning you of your own fears?”

“No, I couldn’t,” Nia agreed. “But I’m not like you, Brainy. I can’t just- just _decide_ to take the logical option. I understand what you mean, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not terrified of the tiniest chance of it actually happening.”

“I understand,” Brainy said solemnly. He reached out his hands. Nia glanced down at them and then, with a twitch at the corner of her lips, she took them. “If you wish to tell Kara and Alex about what you saw, then I will stand by your side. If you decide not to, then I will not speak a word of this to anyone.” Brainy caught her gaze. “Your dreams may not have a one hundred per cent certainty, but I trust _your_ judgement. Always.” He leant forward, lifting one hand to cup her face. Then, gently, he pressed his lips against her forehead.

Nia softened against that touch, and Brainy felt a warmth spread through his chest as a result. He kissed her once more before leaning back. “I am with you, Nia Nal, whatever you decide.”

Nia took a shaky sigh, ducking her head. “Honestly? I-I don’t know _what_ I decide.” She glanced up at him. “Can we just- lie here for a while?”

Brainy smiled, squeezing Nia’s hands. “Of course.”

Brainy leant back against the headboard, winding his arms around Nia once she’d tucked herself against his chest. She stared at the far wall, where lights from the outside world painted themselves against its surface. Brainy, however, couldn’t keep from watching Nia. She was still afraid, and her eyes shimmered with tears, but her resilience shone through even now. Despite everything, she was as determined as ever not to let the world of her dreams control her.

Brainy kissed her head fondly, and her eyes drifted towards him. “Tell me about stuff,” she said.

Brainy’s lips quirked. “Stuff?”

“Dream stuff,” she said, making a vague gesture. “Random stuff. Enlighten me.” She rolled so that she was staring up at the ceiling, her head still securely cushioned against his chest. “What do… sheep mean?”

Brainy raised an eyebrow. “Did you see any sheep in your dream?”

“Not important,” Nia said. “Just. Talk. Please?”

“Sheep,” Brainy said, considering the information he had stored on the subject. “They can represent joy, peace, happiness and general good luck.”

“Ducks?”

“Changes within a relationship or work. They can also represent back talk, although I do not know why a duck would be considered a gossipy figure.”

Nia snorted. She blinked at the ceiling. “Do you ever dream that you’re falling and, even with your ring, you can’t just fly away?”

“Yes,” Brainy conceded. He didn’t quite want to go into detail on just how many times that particular dream had surfaced in his subconscious.

“Yeah,” Nia said quietly. “That one sucks.” She threw a hand over her face. “What about unicorns?”

And so that was how the next hour and thirteen minutes went. Nia would ask questions about various dream mechanics and Brainy would answer them, playing thoughtlessly with her hair as he talked.

After a while, Nia yawned, running her hand along the arm Brainy had wound across her chest. Brainy felt a pinprick sensation trail across his skin.

“Work’ll be a bummer on this amount of sleep,” Nia said, staring listlessly into the dark. She glanced upwards, meeting Brainy’s gaze. “Hey, wanna play hooky?”

Brainy’s chest stirred at the thought. “A tempting offer,” he said lightly. “Although I think Alex may kill me were she to figure out the truth.”

“I won’t let her,” Nia said defiantly, lifting her chin. “Besides, she won’t find out.” She squeezed his arm. “C’mon, please? We need to buy a new mirror, anyway.” She glanced towards the shattered remains hanging from the wall. “Guess it was pretty lucky it was there, though. After…”

Brainy smirked. “Luck had nothing to do with it. I placed it there on purpose.”

“Wait, _what?_ Why?”

Brainy softened. He continued to run his fingers through Nia’s hair. “After Lex’s recent demise and… and the stress I put you through when I was not, uh, _myself…_ I realised that there was a high likelihood that your powers may exhibit themselves in uncharacteristic ways.”

“Stress nightmares,” Nia said thoughtfully. It hadn’t been quite the tone Brainy had expected. Then, she looked up at him. “I’ve decided,” she said. “That dream. It wasn’t of the future. I think you were right.” She smiled, although it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Don’t let that go to your head.”

“Probability is rarely wrong,” Brainy said, grinning when Nia whacked his arm. “But I am glad that you are feeling better.”

“Oh no,” Nia said, shaking her head. “I’m not okay.” She feigned an obnoxiously fake cough. “In fact, I’m sick. And you’re gonna call Alex in the morning and say you’ve gotta take care of me. Like an awesome boyfriend.”

Brainy could have argued with her, but seeing Nia smiling, her eyes so beautifully bright with amusement… it left him with little he could say against her. Besides, playing ‘hooky’ as they called it in this century, was something he had not entertained in a long time. It would be educational, if nothing more, to garner the full human experience of lying to one’s boss about their whereabouts for purely innocent gain.

“Very well,” Brainy said, resting his chin against Nia’s head. “But you are responsible if Alex decimates me.”

Nia grinned, pressing her lips against Brainy’s arm. “Deal.”


	2. BRAINY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesse's phenomenal performance in the last few episodes has given me so many ideas for interesting ways to write Brainy's character. This, I suppose, can be construed as one of them. 
> 
> The addition of ancestral memory into the plot and how that might impact Brainy long-term was just too good of an idea not to play around with. Also, I'm not sure if Nia's powers were ever described in a way that allowed her to walk through someone else's dreams, but for the sake of plot and also the fact that that would be totally badass, she can do so here.
> 
> So, without further ado, I present: Brainy's nightmare.
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated! :)

Nia was willing to ignore it the first time it had happened. After everything Brainy had gone through, she didn’t want to pry, didn’t want to push at something she knew he wasn’t ready to disclose.

But the third?

“No, no, no, _no, **NO!**_ ” Brainy jerked upright in bed; the sheets dragged across Nia, relinquishing the last dregs of sleep that hadn’t already been roused by her boyfriend’s nightmare.

Nia sat up, trying her best to assess the situation in the low light. Brainy’s breathing was ragged, his chest heaving in harsh, uneven pants. His palms rested over his eyes, fingers digging desperately into his scalp.

“I don’t want to,” he said, his voice was jolted and two-tonal - an artificial undertone emanating from his mechanical half. “Not again, _please_ not again.”

Nia never spied on Brainy’s dreams. It was one of the first things he’d asked her when they’d started sleeping in the same bed. Nia had kept that promise, always. She knew what secrets Brainy had to keep, and what facets of his past he wasn’t yet willing to relinquish. He was getting better at sharing as necessary, but there was still so much bottled up inside.

Prime example number one.

Or should she say _five._

Nia carefully placed her hand on Brainy’s arm. He was still asleep, that had been clear from the moment he’d started talking. He rarely slipped when it came to modulating his voice, but Nia had been noticing it more and more when he spoke in his sleep. It came from a buried part of himself, crawling to the surface whenever he was in distress.

It made her heart hurt to hear him like this, to see the tension that lined his shoulders, running up his neck and jawline. Whatever he was dreaming, it wasn’t just his fears; it was his past, his reality.

Nia wound her arm around Brainy’s back, rubbing gentle circles into his shoulder. She couldn’t pry, couldn’t force him out of this. He would only come to when he was ready, when the nightmare was done with him. Nia had to fight back the sting of tears in her eyes.

“I-I’m not. I-I-I- _I can’t_.” His voice jumped like a broken record, skirting and scratched across its many surfaces. It lowered in pitch like a run-down computer, then jerked suddenly to a more human tone. Brainy’s breathing hitched, and tears leaked from beneath his fingers.

And Nia knew he was awake.

“Hey,” she said softly. “I’m right here.”

A sob bubbled in his throat, and he choked on his own breath. “How _could_ you be?” Brainy asked, his voice wrought with pain. “After what we have done?”

Nia frowned, a murmur of worry nestling itself inside her chest. “We?” she asked carefully.

“I-I,” his voice jumped again, “w-we. They. _They._ They. N-not me. It _wasn’t_ me.”

“I know it wasn’t,” Nia said. “Brainy, what happened- I _know_ that wasn’t you. Not really.” He hadn’t been himself; the reboot had caused him to lose his ties to his emotions, to become aligned with the mindset of a family he’d spent a lifetime trying to outrun. It was the Coluan equivalent of not thinking clearly. Except, for his species, it was thinking _too_ clearly. She didn’t blame him for that. She thought he _knew_ that.

Brainy shook his head, digging his fingers further into his dark hair. He took a deep breath. “Not that,” he said, his voice more subdued, but just as stricken. She knew he was thinking about _that_ now as well. _Stupid._ She shouldn’t have said anything. She should have just waited for him to explain.

If he _would_ explain.

“This is the third time in a week,” Nia said. “I didn’t say anything the first time, and I sat with you the second. But Brainy, something’s gotta give. You can’t keep doing this to yourself.”

Brainy laughed sharply. “Believe me. I don’t want to.”

“Then _talk to me,_ ” Nia said. She took his arm with her free hand, shaking it softly. “Brainy. I’m scared for you. I need you to let me in on this. Let me help you.”

Brainy rubbed at his eyes, blinking slowly. He wasn’t focused on anything, his hair was ruffled, loose strands curling inwards. He swallowed, reaching instinctively for his ring. He twisted it methodically, staring blankly at the bedsheets.

Nia waited patiently. This was the closest she’d gotten to progress since Lex’s defeat. She continued to rub circles into Brainy’s back until, eventually, he sighed, closing his eyes.

“I told you that when our captors tortured me, they accidentally aligned me with my ancestral memory.”

Nia’s heart clenched. She nodded. “Yeah,” she said softly.

Brainy smiled bitterly. “That was not… the full extent of what happened.” He glanced towards her, dark eyes glimmering. “My ancestral memory is something that is a part of me, just as it is for every Coluan. I made the choice to separate myself from that, but it is not something that can be deleted or erased. It is always there, and there is always the chance that I could…” he drew off, a tremor ran through his voice and he swallowed. “I spent so much time compartmentalising my emotions into imaginary boxes, and yet I had no idea that, by doing so, I was becoming more and more like my family. I inadvertently created my own monster, and just because I locked them away, it does not mean they cannot still call to me.”

“Wait, they're inside your head?” Nia asked. “All the time?”

Brainy made a choked sound at the back of his throat. He nodded, running a hand across his face. “They were stored before. Now? Now, I am not sure what is left.”

“You dream about them,” Nia said. She didn’t phrase it like a question, she didn’t have to. She knew she was right. “God, Brainy, you should have told me. I could help you.”

Brainy sighed. “Even if you did, I could never escape what they have done, not fully.” He raised his head. “I think, in a way, I might be grateful. To know my history is insight enough not to repeat it. But… I sometimes wonder how easy it could be. When they took you away, when they riddled me with pain and overpowered my sensors, it was so easy to shut down and allow logic to run its course. Just before I rebooted, I was so afraid that- that it would be _more_ than my emotions. That I would become like them, align myself with not just their minds, but also their deeds. I-I _wanted_ to. For a moment I… I wanted to do awful things.” Brainy gripped uselessly at the sheets, balling them in his fists. “I cannot forgive myself for that.”

Nia rolled her eyes. “Yes, you can. Because your ancestors, they might be a part of you, but Brainy, they _aren’t_ you. Not a single one of them is as brave and strong as you are. As capable. As g _ood._ ” She shuffled closer to him, wrapping her arms around his back, locking her fingers just over his heart. “You are a hero. No one can take that from you, especially not your relatives.”

A little of the tension eased in Brainy’s back and Nia smirked when he softened against her. She unwound one hand to swipe some of the dark hair from his face, placing her chin against his shoulder.

A thought occurred to her suddenly. “Wait… tell me that’s not why you’ve been wearing your inducer to bed.”

Brainy shifted uncomfortably and, with that, Nia’s heart sank. There was no real reason for Brainy to wear his inducer around the apartment, except maybe out of habit. But, to bed? It was something he’d only picked up on recently, around the same time as his first nightmare. He’d told Nia he was testing a new setting on the device. And Nia had accepted that. Unthinkingly. _God,_ why had she just ignored that?

“Brainy,” she said softly. “Is it really that bad?”

“I…” Brainy swallowed, and his chest convulsed beneath Nia’s fingers. She didn’t have to see his face to know that he was crying again.

“Hey,” she said. “It’s okay. C’mere.” She held him tightly, rocking them both gently as another sob climbed from his throat.

“I’m sorry,” Brainy said, his breath still catching and uneven. “After what I did, how I _felt,_ appearing human makes it… easier to ignore.” More tears ran from his face, dripping across Nia’s fingers as they slipped from his chin. “Humans are their own people; they are not tormented with memories of their worst ancestors. They have the chance to grow. Recently, when I see myself, I am only reminded of all that I have accumulated, all that I cannot escape.”

Nia felt Brainy’s chest spasm again, and she ducked her head into his shoulder, pressing her lips against his neck. “Listen to me, okay?” she murmured into his ear. “You might have ancestral memory, but everyone has their demons, and we all carry the weight of burdens that aren’t ours. Doesn’t matter what species you are or what powers you have.” She squeezed him tight. “Brainy, being a Coluan does not make you like your family, just like being a Brainiac doesn’t make you evil. You make a choice every day to be the person that you are, and I am so glad for it. I love you. And I-I _hope-_ I hope that you can love yourself, too. Even if it takes a while, even if I have to love you twice as hard to carry us both until you can, I don’t care. But I want you to be able to look in the mirror and know yourself. Not your family. _You._ ”

They sat like that for a while, Nia holding her boyfriend steady as tears continued to track down his face. She thought her words had sunk in, but she also knew how important it was that Brainy let these emotions run their course. He _needed_ to cry this out, he’d been holding this back far too long to be healthy. Nia was just relieved that he was finally sharing the behemoth of stress that he’d stockpiled, even if this wasn’t an easy fix, it was a good first step to figure out the rest.

When the sobs grew less intense and only small hiccups punctured the quiet of the bedroom, Nia tipped backwards, drawing Brainy along with her. They fell against the bed together, and Brainy twisted so that he could face her again.

Nia’s heart clenched at the sight of him. His eyes were swollen, and his face was stained with tears. But his expression looked clearer for it, like a weight had been lifted.

Nia reached out, running her fingers along Brainy’s cheek, drawing lines across the tracks of moisture on his face. He sighed, closing his eyes. “Keep the inducer on for as long as you need,” Nia said quietly. “I love you, with or without it.”

Brainy nodded solemnly. He opened his eyes, his expression earnest and open. “I love you too,” he said, before pausing. “Thank you, Nia Nal. I… do not know what I would do without you.”

Nia grinned. “Obviously your life would be totally boring.” Her expression softened and she bit her lip. “Do you hear them now? Your ancestors?”

Brainy shook his head slowly, frowning. “Whispers come and go,” he murmured. “But their memories mostly torment me in my dreams.”

“How handy, then, that your girlfriend has dream powers,” Nia noted. She raised her eyebrow. “Come on, surely you considered asking me about this.”

“Nia,” Brainy said, reaching out to touch the hand she still had pressed to his face. A warmth spread up her wrist. “There is a lot of darkness in my mind, and a lot of information that I cannot guarantee is safe for you to view. If you were to see something that impacted your future…”

“I don’t care,” Nia said simply. “Brainy, I am not going to let you suffer _knowing_ that I can help you just because there’s a tiny chance that I might see something I shouldn’t.” She quirked a brow. “What are the odds?”

“There is a twenty-six per cent chance you could witness something you likely should not,” Brainy answered.

“That’s all?” Nia asked.

“Nia-”

“Stop,” Nia said. “Stop playing hero. Tonight, that’s my job.”

“Technically, it’s both of our jobs,” Brainy said, but there was a humorous glint in his eyes.

Nia rolled her eyes, swatting his shoulder playfully. “It’s settled, then. I’m going to deal with some of these bad dreams. You sleepy?”

Brainy’s expression immediately tightened. “I-I’m not sure.”

Nia knew that feeling. Prophetic dreams turned nightmares, evil ancestors dredging up shared history to torment their descendant’s minds… god, with everything they’d both faced, it was a miracle they got any sleep at all. Nia planted a kiss on Brainy’s cheek, lifting herself into a sitting position. “Fine. You stay here, I’m gonna get some ice cream out the freezer.”

Brainy stared at her. “It’s three thirty-six in the morning.”

“Uh-huh,” Nia said, nodding seriously. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you? That’s, like, _ideal_ ice cream time. We’re gonna eat some, you’re gonna tell me a bit more about this ancestral memory stuff, and then I’m gonna kick its ass.”

Brainy chuckled, swiping a hand over his eyes. “It’s not as simple as that.”

“I know,” Nia said, “but I got you to smile. So, I think I’m doing pretty well so far.”

Between them, they polished off the half-tub of ice cream Nia had stored for a rainy day. They lay on the bed together and talked for what felt like no time at all, but when Nia next glanced up, she could clearly see the sun rising in the distance.

That didn’t matter. When Brainy was ready, Nia would be there to slip into his dream, guide him away from the stress that his ancestral memory was cultivating. His subconscious was still his own, all he needed was a helping hand to keep him from that darkness, to remind himself who was in charge.

Nia had no doubt that Brainy would never align himself with his ancestors – not by choice – but right now, she knew he wasn’t confident of that, of himself. And so, when they were finally settled, and Brainy’s head was tucked against her shoulder, she pressed her face into his hair and closed her eyes.

What was taking one sick day to make sure her boyfriend got to sleep properly for the first time in a week, anyway? James would understand and Nia was pretty sure that Alex would cover for Brainy where the DEO was concerned.

For today, neither one of them would leave this apartment. Besides, with Brainy curled against her, there was no where else that Nia would have rather been.


End file.
